Month: February 2007

From the Land of Snow and Beavers, comes this fun piece:

“Our first thought was to Taser it, but we didn’t think that would go over well in front of people,” Evans said. “It would be a safe way to control the animal and it wouldn’t hurt, but the public might not think that.

“They ended up wrestling it, or at least trying to wrestle it. On the third or fourth attempt they finally got it to the ground and got the can off.”

Evans said the deer ran into the bush uninjured, but with the imprint of a coffee can around its face.

I’m not sure I’d advise taser use to incapacitate a wild animal. They aren’t even really all that effective on people sometimes, and, with the exception of all but the biggest ones (kidney belts, I’ve heard, are pretty much impossible to fight through), depend on a psychological component that you wouldn’t have in a scared animal who’s brain is wired a bit differently. I suspect it would have some effect, but I would say you’re probably likely to injure the animal or be injured yourself trying to deal with it. Plus, here’s one from the Taser manual:

The nervous systems of animals are greatly different than human beings. The ADVANCED TASER is designed to be effective on a human attacker. Accordingly, it will not be as effective at incapacitating an animal as it is on a human being. The ADVANCED TASER should not be used as sole protection from wild, uncontrollable, or attacking animals. Law enforcement can use the ADVANCED TASER or dogs, but it is advisable to have animal control officers present to “collar” the incapacitated dog while the T-waves are working.

But the funny part is these Canadian cops thought that wrestling the thing to the ground was a good alternative :)

CNN has an odd but interesting defense of other story:

A man says he broke into an apartment with a cavalry sword because he thought he heard a woman being raped, but the sound actually was from a pornographic movie his upstairs neighbor was watching.

“Now I feel stupid,” said James Van Iveren, who has been charged in the case. “This really is nothing, nothing but a mistake.”

According to a criminal complaint, the neighbor told police that Van Iveren pounded on the door and kicked it open without warning February 12, damaging the frame and lock.

I don’t honestly think charges in this case are appropriate. A reasonable person, hearing what sound like screams of help coming from a neighboring apartment, I think is perfectly justified in doing something here, even if I wouldn’t do exactly what Mr. Van Iveren ended up doing. I think Van Iveren is civilly liable for the damage he caused, but what he did should not be criminal, and society ought not encourage the “don’t get involved, let the professionals deal with this” mentality that prevails among government officials.

This does illustrate the risks we face in coming to the defense of others; it’s something we do at our legal peril. I think the real lesson here is that if you like loud, screaming pornos, keep the volume down.

I see Bitter is running the same story, from a different source.

UPDATE: Bitter updates on the post linked above that it turns out it’s not particularly screeching porn, which I suppose would make a difference.  At the very least, this should keep things interesting for whoever ends up on that jury :)